Reviewed by Helen Bolton
Stars the voices of Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman,
Emma Watson, Kevin Kline, William H Macy, Stanley Tucci, Tracey Ullman,
Christopher Lloyd, Sigourney Weaver | Written by Gary Ross, Will McRobb & Chris Viscardi
UK certification U | UK RRP £24.99 | Runtime 93 minutes | Directed by Sam Fell & Rob Stevenhagen
As the Princess (Watson) says of our big-eared, titular hero, "You are a strange little mouse." He is indeed. And the film is a curiosity as well. That's not a negative though, just a reflection on the eccentricity of this rodent / valour / soup-themed tale.
Life in the Kingdom of Dor used to be good. The soup capital of the world, it was a land filled with joy - and heady aromas of broth. However, an incident with a bowl of soup, the Queen and a visiting, sea-faring rat called Roscuro (Hoffman) changed all of that and the heart-broken King bans soup and rats. And then into this grey world is born Despereaux (Broderick), a big-eared, big-hearted mouse who knows no fear. Having learned to read books in the Royal Library rather than eat them, Despereaux sees his mission in life as a brave knight, fighting foes to save the maiden fair and, thanks to circumstances beyond his control (or, as you should probably call it in such tales, destiny), our cheese-eating hero is going to get his chance.
Rodents and gourmet food? In an animated tale? Haven't we been here before? Well, yes and no. Ratatouille may have covered similar ground but it's a country mile from Kate DiCamillo's eccentric, but charming yarn. It's also arguable that, even with its Flemish-painting inspired design, this fairytale-esque story is a lot more child-friendly than Pixar's tale of longing and redemption. The story does stutter slightly at the end of the second act / beginning of the third, but it's pulled back to a very satisfying conclusion, and features fine voicework throughout —I mean, look at that cast! — and some lovely animation.
EXTRAS ** There are two special features that all involve the "U-Control Interactive Experiece", and all involving behind-the-scenes stuff that can be set to pop-up while you watch the film. The first is Picture in Picture Live Action, and the second is Picture in Picture Animatic. There's also a "My Scenes" feature which let's you collect clips of the film and share them online through BD-Live. And then there are some deleted songs; a 12-minute making-of featurette; scene progressions, with rough sketches and storyboards; a featurette called Top 10 Uses For Oversized Ears; a Make Your Own Soup game; a Card Creator; and a trailer for Curious George 2.